Another friend's comments on the NYT Magazine article

Another friend's comments on the NYT Magazine article (http://edreform.blogspot.com/2006/11/what-it-takes-to-make-student-cover.html):

1.  The article suggests that only the most heroic efforts produce great results with low-income minority kids, specifically "teachers who work 15 to 16 hours a day".  This is not something that you can build a huge system on.  Fortunately, there is ample evidence that it is not a requirement for success.  Achievement First has worked hard to make teaching a more normal and "livable" career, even in our middle schools that are charged with moving its students through 6 or 8 years of material in 4 years.  It's hard work and requires dedication and efficient organization, but it's manageable.  And, as we bring more kids through our own K-4 program, we will see the virtual elimination of time and effort devoted to academic remediation and behavioral issues.

 

2.  The article fails to address the failure of the "just throw more money at it" approach to reform, nor does it zero in on the structural impediments to creating high-performing high-poverty schools by the existing district organizations.  These observations would underscore the critical importance of the public charter school sector to achieving the goal of great schools for all kids -- at least in the current environment, it cannot be done through the internal reform of existing systems.

 

3.  The article only glances at the difficult political reality faced by the public charter school sector -- underfunded, sometimes blocked and under attack by the status quo forces in every city and state and at the national level. 

 

Tough's final assertion, that "we", meaning the public, have the power to right this wrong, is correct.  "We" have to fight, particularly at the state level, for schools that work for kids.